Tech training firm tries new tack

The fast-growing Eugene company CBT Nuggets, which provides video training for technology professionals, is releasing a new, free product that will offer some quick-hit training.

MicroNuggets are five-minute video lessons from the company's stable of trainers on a wide variety of technology subjects, from "What is voice-over IP?" to "What are Amazon Web Services?"

The video snippets are a departure from CBT Nuggets' traditional format -- a video series with 10 to 15 hours of training that covers a tech topic comprehensively.

The move is part altruism, part smart marketing.

The company is giving away training that it could charge for. At the same time it is introducing itself to new viewers, "hoping they'll discover the value and be willing to pay for more," CEO Dan Charbonneau said.

The company has a long history of giving away its training.

Charbonneau launched his business in 1999 by giving away five-minute training sessions on CD-Rom -- the most advanced technology at the time.

Now, through the wonder of YouTube, CBTNuggets can easily distribute MicroNuggets, as well as its longer training videos, to viewers around the globe.

The company has produced 15 MicroNuggets so far, and plans to have several hundred in a month, and probably 1,000 within a few months, Charbonneau said."We're making MicroNuggets on about 250 topics," he said.

At the same time the company is releasing three to four of its traditional training series a month, Charbonneau said. All told, the company has produced 250 to 300 video training series, with about 3,000 hours of training for information technology professionals, on topics such as servers, databases and specific products by Microsoft, Cisco and other companies, he said.

So far this year, revenues are up 40 percent from this time last year, Charbonneau said. He is predicting revenues of $13 million this year, up from $10 million last year, jumping to $40 million in 2014 then to $100 million in 2022.

The company has about 30,000 paying customers in more than 70 countries. Most of those customers -- 85 percent -- are in the United States.

Releasing the free MicroNuggets gives the company a chance to give away training to people in developing countries, Charbonneau said.

"It's been awkward in the past because many people in these countries can't afford it," he said.

The country with the second-largest number of views of CBT Nuggets content on YouTube, after the United States, is India, said Ryan Lee, who works in the company's marketing department.

The company benefits from eyeballs around the world watching its training products because that gives the MicroNugget videos higher viewership numbers on YouTube.

That in turn induces more viewers to watch the video and gives MicroNugget videos a higher ranking by search engines, Charbonneau said.

CBT Nuggets recently moved into larger quarters at 44 Club Road. The company now occupies 7,100 square feet. But it could easily use 10,000 square feet, Charbonneau said.

He said he has been looking for more space around town, including the newly constructed "Woolworth" building on Willamette Street in downtown Eugene.

But their current offices with views of the Willamette River and easy access to walking and bike paths "is hard to beat," he said.

CBT Nuggets has 35 employees and is hiring five more computer developers, five more salespeople and one more person in marketing, Charbonneau said.